Our economics columnist sees the sell-offs as a sign that investors realize the era of easy money is over, and says the wild, global swings show that the U.S. economy retains its defining influence — for better or worse.

The Falcon Heavy rocket will allow SpaceX to bid on missions for the Air Force for some spy satellites, and it could be useful to NASA for launching large space probes.

But Mr. Musk’s payload this time was playful: a cherry-red electric sports car built by his other company, Tesla.

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Credit...Tom Brenner/The New York Times

• A high-level meeting between the U.S. and North Korea appears possible, on the sidelines of the Winter Olympics.

Mike Pence, the U.S. vice president, is heading to South Korea, and a 90-year-old North Korean official who serves as a nominal head of state will be there too. Mr. Pence, above center, and other U.S. officials say they are taking a “wait and see” approach.

Our correspondents look at how sharply the two Koreas have diverged — economically, culturally and socially — since the 1988 Games in Seoul.

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Credit...Alex Hofford/European Pressphoto Agency

• “Our hearts are heavy. We walk free, but Hong Kong’s democracy has lost a battle.”

• SoftBank, the Japanese conglomerate, reports earnings today. (In case you missed it, Vision Fund, the company’s tech-focused investing arm, is betting $300 million on a Los Angeles-based start-up that enables users to summon dogwalkers with their phone.)

• And Daimler, the German carmaker, publicly apologized after its Mercedes-Benz brand provoked backlash in China over a Dalai Lama quote on its Instagram account — the latest example of a foreign company being cowed by nationalistic Chinese consumers.

In the News

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Credit...Tian Jun-Hsiung/Associated Press..

• Taiwan urged people to “stay safe” after a powerful earthquake in the city of Hualien left buildings collapsed or leaning at dangerous angles. At least four people were killed and another 145 remain missing.. [The New York Times]

• Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, will remain ensconced in the Ecuadorean Embassy in London after a British judge upheld his arrest warrant. [The New York Times]

• India tested a nuclear-capable ballistic missile. The country has been testing long-range rockets capable of reaching Shanghai and other major Chinese cities. [Times of India]

• China’s Defense Ministry said it had tested an antimissile defense system. But it said the test, which came amid tensions over North Korea’s nuclear program and a border dispute with India, was “defensive and does not target any country.” [Associated Press]

• An explosive exposé of Chinese influence in Australia’s politics and media will be published by Hardie Grant in March. The book was shelved last year by another publisher — a decision the author said was made out of fear of angering China. [BBC]

• The police in northern India were searching for a fake doctor, an itinerant suspected of infecting dozens of impoverished patients with H.I.V. by reusing a dirty needle. [The New York Times]

• New clues on spiders: Scientists discovered amber-encased remains of a spider-like creature with a scorpion’s tail from more than 100 million years ago. The specimens were found at markets in Myanmar. [The New York Times]

Noteworthy

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Credit...Matthew Abbott for The New York Times

• Australia’s Sudanese community is on edge after being publicly blamed for “gang” violence. Our correspondent profiled members of a Sudanese wrestling team in Melbourne who face increased racial profiling.

Back Story

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Credit...Getty Images

And you thought it was just the title of a Tom Wolfe novel.

On this day in 1497, supporters of the firebrand Dominican friar Girolamo Savonarola burned “indecent” cosmetics, art, and books in Florence, Italy. It became the best-known of his many such fires, and gets uppercase status: the Bonfire of the Vanities.

Savonarola railed against corruption and advocated the destruction of secular art and culture. He denounced the nude paintings of the Italian Renaissance and attacked the ruling Medici family.

He briefly led Florence — one account called him its “moral dictator” — when the Medicis were temporarily ousted in 1494. He drew support from those who felt culturally and economically alienated. And he spread his message through one-page screeds, becoming one of the first purveyors of printed political propaganda.

But a few months after his historic bonfire, he was excommunicated by a foe, the Borgia pope Alexander VI. The next year, he was executed: hung on a cross and burned before an angry crowd in the Piazza della Signoria.

The monastery that served as his home and headquarters is now the Museum of San Marco in Florence.

Karen Zraick contributed reporting.

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